Saudi Arabia needs greater focus on cyber security

Cyber crime is becoming a key risk in Saudi Arabia, and the kingdom’s business leaders need to focus more on their defense strategy against this threat, a new report said on Tuesday.

The growing frequency and sophistication of cyber attacks have exposed several companies in Saudi Arabia and the GCC to damaging consequences, said a report issued ahead of the fourth edition of the Kingdom Cyber Security Meeting, to be held next month in Riyadh.

“Investing in cyber security is a necessity and must be considered in the planning and budgeting stages of any project, and not left to later stages or only when there is a security threat,” said Taghreed Justinia, assistant professor and program director for Health Informatics at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences.

“This market is booming with rapid infrastructure development and we must keep up the pace of security alongside the speed of these rapid development projects,” she added.

Several government agencies and firms in Saudi Arabia have been targeted by hackers in recent months, according to news reports.

Organizations were warned by the Saudi telecoms authority in January to be on alert for the Shamoon virus, which disrupts computers by wiping their disks, Reuters reported. The virus crippled thousands of computers at state-owned Saudi Aramco in 2012.